After our glorious swim with dolphins in Kaikōura, we had a plan: cross the Lewis Pass to reach the West Coast of the South Island, continue south along that rugged coastline, and then cut back east somewhere further south.

While we were resting in Kaikōura the night before our dolphin swim, we checked the weather forecast and noticed that Milford Sound—deep in Fiordland—was predicted to have glorious weather in just two days’ time. We had never got to visit Milford Sound on our 2 previous New Zealand trips, so it was 100% on our itinerary this time! We had a conundrum. Good weather in Fiordland is rare, and this meant we’d have to make a serious pivot to take advantage of it.

The drive from Kaikōura to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland, is about 10 hours and over 800 kilometres. After a quick debate, we made the call: we booked a Milford Sound cruise for two days later, plus two nights in Te Anau. That gave us one night on the road southbound before we needed to arrive.

Packing up after our early 5 a.m. dolphin swim was a bit rough. We grabbed lunch in Kaikōura, then hit the road for a long drive. We wished we’d had one more day there—it’s such a stunningly beautiful place.

We decided to drive as far as we could that first day and ended up in Ōamaru. Too tired to do anything but crash into bed, we missed the chance to see the town’s famous penguin colony.

The next morning, with a full day ahead before we needed to reach Te Anau, we decided to explore a bit. Our first stop was the Elephant Rocks—a field of massive limestone boulders said to be around 25 million years old. It’s an incredible spot in the middle of nowhere, feeling more like a movie set than a real landscape. The huge rocks really do look like elephants—or giant heads—scattered randomly across a field.

Just up the road is the Anatini Fossil Site, a hidden limestone valley where you can see parts of a huge fossilised whale embedded in the rock face. The valley was also used as the location for Aslan’s camp in The Chronicles of Narnia films.

From there, we headed back to the coast and rejoined our old friend, Highway 1, driving south to Moeraki Boulder Beach. These seemingly random boulders scattered across the sand are actually septarian concretions—formed within mudstone and later exposed by coastal erosion. They’re fascinating to see up close, and the beach walk is lovely.

Top tip: don’t park at the café, where you’ll be charged a fee to use their stairs to the beach. Instead, head to the public access point further down the road—it’s free and just as easy. There you’ll find interpretive panels explaining the rocks’ geological story and their significance to local Māori tribes.

We continued south, stopping for a quick lunch in the back of our car, and drove through more of New Zealand’s spectacular scenery before finally rolling into Te Anau.

It was still busy when we visited in early March, so the only accommodation we could find was the fairly basic Fiordland Hotel. After a solid Mexican meal in town, we crashed into our slightly-too-narrow bed, exhausted from our epic east-coast pivot across the South Island.

Coming up next: Milford Sound!